Pour about two inches vegetable oil into the pan and place it on med-high heat. Allow the oil to get good and hot. While your oil is warming remove the biscuits from the container and place on the counter or a cutting board. Use a small round cookie cutter to cut out the hole in the center. (I actually used the back end of a large icing tip) Save the centers for donut holes. Once your oil is nice and warm drop in one of your donut holes to test it. It should turn a light golden brown. Use your tongs to roll it so it’s evenly browned. Once evenly browned remove to a plate lined with paper towels. To cook the donuts drop them into the grease one at a time. My pan would hold about 4 donuts per batch. You don’t want them to be crowded. Once the donuts are a light golden brown flip them with your tongs. Remove to paper lined plate once browned on both sides. After you’ve cooked all of your donuts and holes you can top them how ever you like.

I used a bit of powdered sugar mixed with milk for some of mine. For the others I brushed the tops lightly with some melted butter and dipped them into a cinnamon sugar mixture.

I think these would also be delicious dusted with powdered sugar or topped with chocolate ganache.

Wash potatoes and pat dry. Leave skin intact and slice approximately 1/2 in thick. Arrange on a baking sheet. Brush tops and bottoms with olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes flipping once about 1/2 way through. Remove from oven and sprinkle the cheeses, green onion and bacon bits over each potato round. Top with a pinch of sea salt if desired. Return to oven and continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

The great thing about this recipe is it’s completely customizable. If you have leftover bacon from breakfast, sure crumble that up and use it instead of the bacon bits. Prefer a different flavor of cheese, feel free to change it up and use your favorites.

I almost had it ready to publish and the more I thought about it I just couldn’t.

I need to talk about something else today.

You may have noticed that some of your favorite blogs and websites aren’t up.

They’ve gone black.

You can read about it here and here and I’m sure many other places around the web.

This is all in protest of an online piracy bill. SOPA.

I’m not that tech savvy so instead of taking my site down for the day (and fearing I may not be able to bring it back) I though I’d take the opportunity to add my two cents about this bill.

Youtube videos like this one are easily found with a simple SOPA search and offer some easy to understand explanations.

What is SOPA?

SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. It is the sibling bill to PIPA, which is the Protect IP Act.

These bills are written in a way that makes them basically look good on the surface. On the surface they want to wipe out online piracy sites that offer illegal downloads of media such as music, software, videos, etc.

The scarey part is this opens the door for ANY site to be shut down even if the person is doing noting wrong.

This week a major cookbook publisher issued a demand to our server company to take down a recipe alleging we were infringing with one of their books. We were forced to take down the page while we appealed this baseless attack on us. Not only was the recipe significantly different, but recipes aren’t even copyrightable under US law. All we did was referenced the author and the book that we used to help us develop our recipe. This is perfectly legal and what all cookbook authors do. But that didn’t matter, we are guilty until proven innocent. We have appealed and expect to have the recipe back up this week, but this was a huge wake up call for us and it should be for all of you.

With SOPA/PIPA it wouldn’t have just been the one recipe that was taken down. The ENTIRE SITE would have been taken down. It would have cost them time and money to appeal the governments decision.

For most of us who blog, we are NOT million dollar corporations. We do not have the funds or resources to fight if our sites are taken down unfairly.

If this bill is allowed to pass it could truly change the internet and our freedoms of speech as we know them.

The most recent news is that the White House reaction to SOPA has tabled it, but there’s no reason why it can’t pop up again with a different name or a couple of simple changes and it would pass through silently.

Please go to house.gov. Enter your zip code. Find your representative. Let them know how you fill about this bill.

Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Set aside. If layering 2 different chocolates melt the chocolate in 30 second increments until smooth. Spread chocolate onto wax paper. Place cookie sheet in the refrigerator with completing the next step. Melt white chocolate in 30 second increments. Stir in a portion of the crushed peppermint. Remove cookie sheet from refrigerator and quickly spread the white chocolate/peppermint mixture over the dark chocolate layer. Work quickly and be careful not to disturb the dark chocolate layer. Sprinkle the top with remaining crushed peppermint. Gently tap (OK, pick up your cookie sheet and drop it from a short distance onto your counter) your cookie sheet onto the counter. This helps even out the top surfaces as well as make sure your crushed peppermint adheres to the top chocolate layer. Place back into the refrigerator and allow the chocolate to set up. Once set peel off the waxed paper and break into pieces.

*If using white chocolate chips for this recipe I recommend a brand such as Ghirardelli. You want a high quality chocolate or you will end up with a waxy taste.

This reindeer food has been a sweet tradition in our family since my little one was around 2.

I have some of the sweetest pictures of him in his PJ’s and boots sprinkling this on our lawn.

In our house we don’t make it together though.

Since the beginning one of Santa’s elves delivers a special bag sometime on Christmas Eve.

It’s an adventure because it usually just shows up somewhere in out house and my son is always so surprised when he stumbles across it.

If you’ve never heard of reindeer food before let me fill you in.

The story goes that it is sent from Santa’s barn.

On Christmas Eve you sprinkle it onto your lawn.

Since it’s the special food the Reindeer eat they will see it and smell it, which will lead them straight to your house.

I love things that add just a little more magic and wonder to the Christmas season for our children.

This year I have a couple of friends who’s sweet littles stay with me several days a week.

I thought it would be nice if they had some reindeer food for Christmas Eve as well.

I don’t have a real recipe for this.

That’s the beauty of it.

It’s sort of a use whatcha’ got kind of thing.

This year I used quick cooking oats.

In the past I’ve used scratch feed for chickens, grape nuts, deer corn…..you get the point.

Don’t stress, just be creative.

Directions

To make just pour your oats (or whatever you are using into a bowl). Use your own judgement here depending on how many children you will be making this for. Next mix in some cute Christmas sprinkles or red/green/silver/gold colored sanding sugars. I added in some glitter for extra sparkle. You can skip this step if you are worried about the wildlife in your area ingesting the glitter.

I always package in small brown paper bags. It’s coming from Santas barn and I guess I just picture that as a pretty rustic place, so the packaging should match.

Before beginning wipe down the bowl, whisk attachment, and spatula you are using with white vinegar. This removes any residual grease that could affect your meringues.

In a stand mixer use the whisk attachment to whip the egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tarter, vanilla, and salt. With mixer turned to high gradually add sugars. Whisk until all of the sugar is mixed in and shiny stiff peaks have formed.

If you want your meringues to be a deeper red fill fee to tint with food coloring.

Pipe in dollops onto lined baking sheets. Bake for 1 hour or until meringues are dry to the touch. Cool completely on a wire rack.